Battle of the Bartenders 9

Updated: March 1, 2004

Battle of the Bartenders 9
February 4th – 25th 2004
Orlando, Florida USA
By Rob Husted

One of O-Town’s most popular Flair Bartending competitions, Battle of the Bartenders, spotlighted the talents of Ben Rose, JD Spradlin, DJ Chilly Willy and Brian Loukmas in it’s ninth run.

This competition was to be the last Battle of the Bartenders due to the huge success and promotion of Brian Loukmas with Allied Domecq…but, the competitions will go on! Ben Rose will take over the long running Florida tradition and turn it into an invitational only contest.

MC Ben Rose with video coordinator JD Spradlin.

Battle of the Bartenders seemed like Battle of the Ex-roommates. Favored to win were returning champion Danny Rossi and past champion Adriano Marcellino. Unfortunately, Danny had a case of the drops, relegating him to 5th place. Having the difficult job of judging all these competitors was Todd Connel, Manager at Margaritaville Citywalk and one of the original Flair Bartenders at Quest for the Best, Chris O’Conner, Head Bartender at BET Soundstage Pleasure Island and one of the original barbacks at Quest for the Best and a judge for seven Battle of the Bartenders competitions, Jason Tremper, Manager at Margaritaville Citywalk and previous winner of three Battle of the Bartenders competitions,)

Adriano Marcellino, from the Rio Hotel and Casino, took First Place and what a show it was! Don’t miss the clip.

Adriano commanded the crowd’s attention from the moment he stepped behind the bar. Pulling off one difficult move after another: bottle and tIn, two bottles, then three bottles, four bottles and more! No matter how many objects Adrianno had in motion, he made it look effortless.

More importantly, Battle of the Bartneders was one of the first events in which Adrianno’s personality surfaced while competing. When he hit a big move he let us know it with subtle expressions and smiles.

Well done, Adriano, your experience is showing. Good Luck in March.

Second Place winner: Shawn Oana, from Kahunaville, Las Vegas.

Shawn had one of the most entertaining rounds of the night. His level of difficulty wasn’t Adrianno’s, but he performed a clean and down right hilarious show. Shawn always leaves the crowd and the judges in an uproar! Be sure to catch the clip of him here with a female member of the audience taking a drink from his crack.

Congratulations, Shawn, on your second place win! Will you ever keep your shirt on or are you pining for the FBA Naked Shultz Award?

A new face emerged for the Third spot, Paul Leahy. Paul has been a long time supporter of the Battle of the Bartenders competition and this is the first time he finished in the top three for the Finals.

Paul had one of the best routines we’ve seen from him in a long time. He performed a fun, energetic round and hit some difficult moves with ease. The highlight of his routine was the Accordion Pour into three drinks over a science fair style volcano, pouring the last drink into the mouth of the exploding volcano, while Jimmy Buffett’s, “Volcano Blows” played.

Great job Paul and the time off is over, Keep practicing and make Showtenders proud!

Final Results:

1st Adriano Marcellino 97.5 pts.
2nd Shawn Oana 84 pts.
3rd Paul Leahy 81 pts.
4th Danny Rossi 80 pts.
5th Rob Ford 75 pts.
6th Rob Husted 75 pts.
7th Hernan Markowitz 60.5 pts.
8th Scott Becker 60 pts.
9th Daniel Joseph 57 pts.
10th Randy Ruiz 54 pts.
11th Mike Best 44 pts.
12th Brandon Mallory 39 pts.
13th Cesar Romero 23 pts.

Special thanks to all the sponsors, barback Tony Gonzales, judges, video team, DJ Willy “Chilli Willi” Lugo, MC Ben Rose, JD Spradlin, Brian Loukmas and Brenda Anderson.